Fuse, more particularly for artillery and aircraft projectiles



April 19, 1932. REMONDY 1,854,669

, MORE PARTICULARLY FOR ARTILLERY AND AIRCRAFT PROJECTILES FUSE Filed Oct. 9, 1931 Patented Apr. 19, 1932 LEON EMILE REMONDY, on PARIS, FRANCE FUSE, MORE PARTICULARLY FDR ARTILLERY AND AIRCRAFT PROJECTILES Application filed October 9, 1931, Serial No.

In my prior U. S. Letters Patents Nos. 1,459,075 and 1,562,054, several forms of construction of a fuse for artillery and aircraft projectiles are described and illustrated. In the fuses forming the subject of the aforementioned specifications, the object was to provide a sensitive and instantaneously-acting fuse, comprising for this purpose a movable carriage containing the Whole of the percussion mechanism (striker and percussion cap), the striker or front element being solid with the casing of the said carriage, whilst the percussion cap is independent thereof. This fuse operates by the carriage being driven into the body of the fuse on contact with an obstacle offering even a slight resistance, the driving in of the movable carriage being rendered possible by the putting out of action of a device which fixes the said carriage before impact with the obstacle. Firing is effected by inertia, due to the con tinuation of the movement of the projectile and the percussion cap, the latter coming into contact with the striker which, together with the casing of the carriage undergoes a relative displacement in regard to the projectile.

The device for fixing the carriage before impact with the obstacle is constituted, in a large number of constructional forms described, by a pin passing through the head of the carriage.

An endeavor has been made to diminish the weight of the movable carriage as a whole and to render the fixing device easier and less resistant, thus permitting, at one and the same time, a reduction of its mass and an increase in the sensitiveness of the device.

For this purpose, the aforementioned specification No..1,562,054 discloses the use of an extremely light carriage, the fixing device being constituted by a plastic or resilient material, such as felt or cork. against which the head of the moving carriage is adapted to bear.

Although this last mentioned means permits an extremely sensitive fuse to be constructed, tests have shown that it has certain disadvantages. As the fixing of the carriage before impact with the obstacle is not com- 567,952, and in France November 26, 1930.

plete or effective, due to the fact that it is brought about by means of a flexible support, it may happen that the carriage enters untimely and excessively into the fuse body whilst the projectile is still in the barrel of the gun or in the vicinity of the muzzle.

On the other hand, it will be clear that, as the movable carriage bears with its head against a resilient support which constitutes the sole means of fixing the carriage before impact, it is absolutely necessary that the head by which the carriage bears against its support should be sufficiently strong. It is also necessary that the end of the carriage against which the percussion cap bears'should resist the inertia of the percussion cap on the projectile leaving the gun. These considerations imply the desirability of giving appreciable strength and weight to the casing of the carriage solid with the striker.

The possibility of providing the carriage with a' flexible support by placing it on stretched wires had been foreseen by applicant, but this device has been found to be incapable ofsuitably fixing the carriage and of absorbing or damping to the necessary extent the inertia of the carriage on the pro jectile leaving the gun. The wires in particular, on rupturing, do not absorb the inertia of the percussion cap, so that there is a risk of an explosion being caused by a violent relative recoil of the percussion cap.

The present invention enables an extremely sensitive fuse of the type described in the aforementioned specification No. 1,562,054 to be constructed, while at the same time obviating the disadvantages enumerated in the foregoing. In principle, the invention consists in the combination of an extremely light carriage with a retaining device which, while being effective, is of relatively small strength, the mutual arrangement of the carriage and the retaining or fixing device being such that the arrangement as a whole offers every security, despite the low strength of the elements. while constituting a perfect means of absorbing or damping the effects of any untimely recoil of the percussion cap.

According to the invention, the movable carriageis provided with a support, which,

cup may be employed for retaining the carriage and for supporting the percussion cap in two different ways, the pin-fixed cup either forming a simple support for the. carriage, in. which case it is located outside the carriage under the bottom of the casing, or the cup being arranged within the-carriage between the. bottom of the carriage and the percussion cap, the pin or pins associated with the cup then passing not merely through the cup it, self, but also through the walls; of the carriage casing.

These two constructional forms of the. invention are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings,wherein V Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a fuse body provided with the percussion device according to the invention in, which, the system of pin-fixed cup is arranged entirely outside the movable carriage, the cup forming a support for the bottom of the carriage casing,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the washer retaining means it in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation in a section of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan of a modification of the carriage guiding and, retaining device in front of the percussion cap.

Figure 5' shows in sectional elevation a constructional form wherein the cup is lodged within the carriage casing and forms a direct support for the percussion cap, the pin associated with the cup fastening the latter, and the casing at the same time, to the fuse body.

Referring to the figures, n denotes the principal element of a fuse body in which is mounted the movable carriage constituted by a casing Z) expanded atits front end and set on the expanded head, 0 of a striker 00 The longitudinal walls of the said casing 6 are pierced in known manner by openings Z1 In the example shown in Figure 1, the carriage casing 72 is supported on a cup 6' which is pierced by a central orifice e and is fastened to the fuse body at by a pin g. The bottom 6 of the casing rests directly on the bottom of the cup, and the percussion cap 1", on its recoil path, thus meets the said bottom 6 and the cup 6, which latter is supported on the pin 9. p

The percussion device is completed by a washer h comprising tongues h which, by

being pressed down may be caused to project through the openings b so as normally to form retaining means preventing any outward displacement of the percussion cap.

The washer is held between the front face pin g. It follows that there is. no longer 1 any necessity to make the carriage casing of a strength which alone is capable of retain.- ing the percussion; cap. On the contrary, the device described, no support being required for the head. of the carriage and the expanded end of the striker, the carriage head and also the striker may be made extremelylight. V

The fuse works exactly like the fuses described in the prior specifications referred to,

hereinbefore. As explained in the foregor ing, any untimely inward movement of the extremely light carriage on the projectile leaving the gun'is prevented the pin-fixed cup es-g, and the excellent general support given to the percussion cap. On impact with an obstacle, even should thelatter be extremely light, the carriage immediately tends to enter into the fuse body, and. althou the carriage itself is of very low strengt 1, the shock exerted upon the head of the said carriage is transmitted by compression to the pin-fixed cup. As the pin is also of very low strength, it is sheared before there any deformation of the carriage, which is under compression, that is to say, under ex'-:' cellent conditlons for reslstance by very thin stamped and drawn metal. The carriage casing moves with the openings 5 on the tongues 72 and the percussion cap retains'it-s position due to its being independent of the carriage and due also to its momentum, so that,

percussion takes place between the striker 0 and the percussion cap, and flame is transmitted.

Instead of a washer such as that shown in Figures 2 and 3, a washer 8' of small diameter with two wings Ti having the same action as the tongues 71 in Figures 2 and 3 may be used in the manner disclosed in the prior specifications referred to hereinbefore. In. the example shown in Figure 5, the cup 6 is located at the bottom of the carriage casing b so that the percussion cap. f is supported on the bottom of the said cup which in turn is supported on the bottom 6 of the casing. The pin 9 passes altogether through the longitudinal walls of the cup and casing. In this construction, it will also be seen that the pin-fixed cup, together with the bottom 6 of the carriage casing, lies in the path of any untimely recoil of the percussion cap and constitutes an excellent inertia-absorbing means under the same conditions as in the preceding example.

In the example shown in Figure l, the entire percussion device, that is to say the movable carriage Z)0fh, may be removed by unscrewing the detachable fuse cap a This constitutes a very important advantage, it being possible at any instant before the fuse is used to inspect and replace the entire percussion mechanism without the necessity of destroying any element thereof. For this reason, this constructional form is, in some respects, preferable to that shown in Figure 5, wherein, however, the removal of the fuse cap a allows of the examination and inspection of the principal elements of the percussion device.

Claims:

1. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body and relatively movable striker and detonator elements carried thereby, means for preventing premature movement of said carriage and said elements to detonating position comprising a supporting member mounted within said fused body coaxially and in supporting engagement with said carriage, and yieldable means for retaining said supporting member in a fixed position with re spect to said fuse body until exploding impact of said projectile.

2. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body and relatively movable striker and detonator elements carried thereby, means for preventing premature movement of said car riage and said elements to detonating position comprising a cup-shaped member mounted within said fuse body coaxially and in supporting engagement with said carriage and having a flame transmitting opening therein, and yieldable means for retaining said cup-shaped member in a fixed position with respect to said fuse body until exploding impact of said projectile.

3. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body and relatively movable striker and detonator elements carried thereby, means for preventing premature movement of said carriage and said elements to detonating position comprising a supporting member mount ed within said fuse body coaxially and in supporting engagement with said carriage, and a shearable pin engaging both said fuse body and said supporting member for fixing the latter in a predetermined position until exploding impact of said projectile.

4. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body and relatively movable striker and detonator elements carried thereby, means for preventing premature movement of said carriage and said elements to detonating position comprising a cup-shaped member mounted within said fuse body coaxially and in supporting engagement with said carriage, and a shearable pin engaging both said fuse body and said cup-shaped member for re taining the latter in a fixed position with respect to said fuse body until exploding impact of said projectile. 5. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted Within the fuse. body and relatively movable striker and detonator elements carried thereby, means I for preventing premature movement of said carriage and said elements to detonating position comprising a supporting member mounted coaxially within said carrige-between one end thereof and said detonator element, and a shearable pin engaging both said supporting member and carriage and the fuse body for maintaining said member and carriage in a fixed positionuntil exploding impact of said projectile.

6. In a projectile fuse ofthe type having; a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body, a striker carried by the carriage and a percussion cap housed within the carriage but movable relatively thereto, means for normally preventing forward displacement of said percussion cap toward said striker, and means for preventing backward movement. of both said carriage and percussion cap upon initial movement of the projectile when fired comprising a cup-shaped member having a perforated bottom and mounted withinsaid fuse body in the path of the backward movement of said carriage and percussion cap, and yieldable means engaging said cup-shaped member and said fuse body for securing the former in afixed. position with respect to the f latter until exploding impact of the projectile.

7. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body, a striker carried by the carriage and a 1 percussion cap housed within the carriage but movable relatively thereto, means for.

normally preventing forward, displacement of said percussion cap toward said striker,-v

and means for preventing backward move- I ment of both said carriage and percussion cap upon initial movement of the projectile when fired comprising a cup-shaped member having a perforated bottom and mounted within said fuse body behind and outside of said carriage, and yieldable means; engagboth said cup-shaped member and said fuse body for securing the former in a fixed position with respect to the latter until exploding impact of the projectile.

8. In a projectile fuse of the type having a carriage movably mounted within the fuse body, asstriker carried by the carriage and a percussion cap housed within. the carriage but-movable relatively thereto, means for normally preventing forward dis lacement 5 of" said percussion cap toward said striker,

and means for preventing backward movement of both said carriage and percussion cap uponinitial movement of the projectile when fired comprising a cup-shaped member m "having a perforated bottom and mounted within said carriage between the bottom thereof and said percussion cap, and yieldable means engaging both said cup-shaped member and carriage and the fuse body for 15"S66III'il'lg said lastnamed elements in a fixed relation until exploding impact of the projectile.

v 9; A projectile fuse comprising a fuse body having an axial bore, a carriage movably 2n mounted within said bore and carrying rela tively movable striker and detonator elements, means for preventing premature movement of said carriage and said elements to detonating position including a member in as supporting engagement with said carriage and a pin passing through said fuse body and said supporting member, means for normally preventing the displacement of said detonator toward said striker, and a detachable fuse cap having threaded engagement with said fuse body for clamping said last named means to said fuse body whereby movement of said carriage and its contained elements outward from said bore is presa -vented.

IOJA projectile fuse comprising a fuse body having an axial bore, a detachable fuse cap having threaded engagement with said fuse body and provided with an axial bore, a

carriage movably mounted within the bore of said fuse body and carrying at its forward end a striker guided for movement within the bore of said fuse cap, a percussion cap housed I u-'i-thin said carriage but movable relatively thereto, a washer member normally preventing movementof said percussion cap toward said striker, said washer member being secured in place between said fuse cap and fuse body, and means for preventing movement of said carriage until exploding impact of the projectile including a supporting member mounted in the bore of said fuse body and shearable pin means engaging both said fuse body and said supporting member, removal of said fuse cap permitting removal of the carriage, striker and percussion cap as a unit from the fuse body.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

' LEON EMILE REMONDY. 

